Recent Pics...

Just a few pics from the past week or so. These first ones are from when Isaac was playing in the sprinkler. He LOVED drinking the water! SO cute! :)
This is Isaac with his BIG boy bike! He is a little speed racer on that thing! It's so funny seeing this little boy on such a big bike...but boy does he FLY! :) And speaking of big-boy stuff...we've JUST transitioned him into his big boy bed this weekend. He's doing GREAT. He's sleeping on a twin mattress on the floor and is LOVING it! :)

And yes...that is a HUGE bloody scrape on his knee! He keeps falling in the SAME spot, busting up the scab over and over again! Poor guy! But he doesn't seem to worried about it, does he? ;)

Naomi is doing well...walking and even running sometimes! We had her follow-up hip appointment, and the doctor said everything looks GREAT! :) YAY!! She's also adding to her vocabulary daily. We'll have her 15-month check-up this week. I'll update with her new stats! :)

Naomi's first steps...

Sorry for the delay in getting this up here! :) Naomi is walking around like crazy these days. We were utterly amazed as she went from literally taking her first unassisted step to full-time walking in ONE week. This transition from first step to full-time walking took Isaac THREE MONTHS!! She had both of us scratching our heads! :) Anyway...here's a little clip to show her in action! :)

A video of Isaac...

Just one for now...I have a couple of Naomi, but need to find the time to get them up here! :)

Two posts in ONE day!! :)

How about THAT!?! Two blog posts in ONE day! Got some more pics to put up here!! And I thought I'd add some "Isaac-isms" that we've been writing down over the past month. This kid is constantly cracking us up. Here's a little glimpse as to why:

Daddy, can you open these batteries for me, Daddy? If you open them for me, that would be SWEET! :)

Oh yeah...that would be a good idea!

(while grunting) I'm trying to get the poop out of my butt.

As he was getting ready to take a bite of food, I warned him that it was too hot. To which he responded: "It's not too hot, mommy." Then as he pulls the food away from his mouth, "Oh...it SURE IS hot!"

As we are putting him down for a nap, he says, "I don't really like sleeping."

His diaper got HUGE when swimming with grandma. He turns to her and asks, "Grandma, does my butt look big?" :)

hospital: "hoss-ta-bol"

At dinner one evening, he held up a chicken nugget and said to us, "Hey guys...do you KNOW what is in these nuggets?" I tried not to laugh too hard and answered, "I'm pretty sure there's chicken in there, buddy!" :)

Another dinner time funny: We were eating cut green beans, and Isaac took two of them, stood them up on the table and started laughing. Then through his own little giggles, says, "They're VEGGIE TALES!!" LOL!

I gave him his bowl of cereal, but forgot his spoon...to which he responds: "Um...actually mommy, I need a spoon!" I apologized and got it for him...he said, "Thanks, mommy. And I probably need a bib too, so I don't get my cereal all over my clothes."

Who IS this child? He is constantly cracking us up! And it's a good thing, too, because we have lots of not-so fun moments right now as well. He's really good at testing us and our boundaries these days. He has even gone as far as ASKING for a spanking: "Daddy...you need to give me a spanking because I threw my food on the floor!" And says it totally smiling like he's proud of his disobedience. UGH! Not quite sure what to do with this child!! :)
And just a few for Naomi:
Naomi's words: baby, bubble, ball, banana, isaac, thank you, more, doggie, shoe, mommy, daddy, nana, papa, kiki, no, yeah, eat, go, outside, and ni-nigh, and she's even said, "what is dat?" as she points to things

She'll wake up crying hysterically, and as she calms down, she'll point to the floor and say, "It-a-da doggie." (It's a doggie!) :) We think she's dreaming about dogs. Hehe. Hopefully one of the days this week, I'll be able to get up some new videos of the kids. Especially since miss thang has started walking!! It's SO cute!! :)

Photos, photos, and more photos!!

So I know I've been slacking on the photos lately...so here are a few! It's not that I haven't been taking them...it's just that I haven't been putting them up here! Next I'll need to make some time to get some videos up. I have the worst memory of anyone I know...so I *NEED* to do this for my sake!! :) Anyway...here they are in all their glory! :)

Little miss flexible...(Nana sometimes calls her "Miss Bendy")


What happens when mommy takes a work call for 15 minutes:

Naomi has discovered a new use for my flip-flops. She LOVES to use them as wings!! SO cute!
Isaac LOVES his cousin, Morgan!! :)

New look...

Not quite sure what I'm gonna do with this blog yet. The looks of it, that is. I can't decide. So in the meantime, I'm just keeping it simple. I have a GAZILLION things to blog about, and zero time to do it! UGH. Okay...so I watched an hour of TV tonight instead of blogging! Haha! And it was the first time in probably 3 months that I've done that! But I need a break from reality. And it was good. :) Life is good. I can't wait to share the fun stuff that's been going on...like Naomi's new words and video of her WALKING!! And about the fact that Isaac will be starting pre-school NEXT month!! A "real" blog post is coming in the near future (hopefully). Hehe. I have most of it written, but I just don't have the videos or photos to go with it...and let's face it, plain text is pretty boring! :) I recently got a new computer, and we've been working on transferring everything over to this one. So I need to relocate the photos and stuff. Anyway...now I'm rambling. It's bedtime. And I hope with every ounce of my being that my kids decide to sleep a full night's worth of sleep! They've been waking up before 7am most mornings (and Naomi before 6am on occasion). Makes for some REALLY tired babies...and one VERY tired mama!! :) I miss the days when I had a son who slept in until 10am!! Where have those days gone?? :)

Change is coming.

It seems as though I've completely fallen off the blogging planet! Geesh! This season is a crazy one for us to be sure. And it hasn't been without major stress. I realized this past week that I have been working WAY too many hours. Pretty much if I'm awake...I'm working. Either working, playing, caring for, or whatever else I do with the kiddos...or when they go to sleep...I start working on business related stuff. Always. There is ALWAYS something hanging over my head. I have a perpetually never-ending list of "to-do's" for my business. And it's been weighing me down lately.

I don't know what it is to sit down and enjoy a good book or watch a TV show or take a walk on a nice evening. All I know these days is work, work, and more work. Soooooo...I decided to make myself a schedule. I built in three days off every week (one of them being today, hence the time to blog). :) And by off...that means that during the kids' naps I am not allowing myself to do anything work-related. And when they go to bed...again...nothing work-related. It's ME time. I can enjoy some time hanging out with my hubby or social-networking online (Facebook, blogging, etc)...or dare I say that I might begin a new book? ;)

I waited SO many years to be a mommy. And my DREAM was to stay at home so that I could spend quality time with them and joyfully raise them. I did not plan to be an entrepreneur...running what would be considered by some, a fairly successful business. I didn't intend to be a working mom. But here I am. It all kind of just fell into my lap. And please don't get me wrong...I REALLY do LOVE being a photographer. I do. I just have not been good about prioritizing my time and managing my work. And therefore, I have become a stressed-out, always exhausted, highly impatient, not-completely-here kind of mommy. And that just breaks my heart.

So things are going to change. They have to. I am at the end of my rope in so many ways! I am excited to have a new work "schedule!" :) I am looking forward to having days OFF...though for anyone who is a mommy...you know that you never really truly get one of those! ;) Hehe. But at least days off of my other job. It'll be good. And hopefully that'll mean I get to spend some more time better documenting my own family's life!

I keep thinking in the back of my head how funny all of this is, really. I have this post about how stressed I am with my business, and yet I am currently in the running for "BEST Portrait Photographer" in central Indiana - a title that I would be honored to receive! I'm SO thankful that there isn't a category for "BEST mommy" in central Indiana...cause sadly, I would probably rank closer to the bottom of that one! I need to do some life re-arranging here and really focus on what matters most to me.

More later! I'm off to enjoy more of my "FREE" time!! :)

Bad, bad blogger!

I know, I know! It's been a month since my last post! Where does the time go? I'll tell you how it goes...TOO FAST! These kiddos are growing up before my very eyes! I can hardly believe it! We've had a busy start to our summer, traveling up to Fort Wayne a couple of times, as Kevin's grand mother recently passed away. We've also endured a round of illness here. Kevin and I both had a horrible virus that came with LOTS of vomiting. I ended up in the ER a couple of weeks ago. Not fun.

Then both of the kiddos got a virus that manifested in a rash and diarrhea. Oh joy! (see the photos below of Naomi's face) So the past week, we've been keeping it really low-key. Several weeks ago, we enrolled Isaac in Lil Kickers - a soccer league for toddlers! :) I think he enjoyed it, but we were less than satisfied with the quality of the program (or maybe just the teacher)...and so we pulled him out after four classes. He hasn't mentioned it once since! Go figure!

Naomi is a speed-crawler these days and still shows zero signs of walking any time soon. She can stand along furniture (and LOVES to climb on everything)...but can't stand very long without support and hasn't come close to taking a first step. It's not a big deal, though, as she is probably going to be about 3 months behind, since she was in a cast for 3 months. So that would put her more at where a typical 10-month-old would be. I'm not too worried.

Isaac continues to be quite the little communicator. He is SO matter-of-fact when he speaks. He makes us smile and laugh OFTEN. :) Here are some of his recent sayings:

"I'm sorry May-o-mee...I didn't mean to hurt you!" (we hear this A LOT)

He still calls his bicycle a "bi-kissel" :)

When I dress him in nice shorts, rather than gym shorts, he says, "Oooooh! These are FANCY shorts, Mommy!"

If we ask him not to do something, he'll say, "But I DO want to do that."

Instead of just answering yes to a question, he'll say, "I sure do!"

"I crap (crack) you up!"

"That was so kind of you, Mommy! Thank you for getting a snack for me!"

"Right now I'm working on my poopy, Mommy. It's okay. I'm fine with it."

Me: "Come here, sweet baby." Isaac: "Mommy, I not a baby!" Me: "Well then what are you?" Isaac: "I'm a big boy." Seriously? Already? :(

And just to show how matter-of-fact he can be, he told me this yesterday morning while we were sitting at the table for breakfast:

"First I'm gonna take a bite of this oatmeal. Then I'm gonna get down off this chair so I can play with May-o-mee."

Hehe. He LOVES to narrate whatever is going on. Pretty cute. He also loves to tell me what Naomi is thinking and feeling. "I think she wants her mommy."

She is pretty good about letting us know when she wants or needs something. She is LOUD and screams to get our attention. This is new to us, as Isaac seemed to be a lot more mellow. Maybe it's just the difference between boys and girls...or first and second born? Who knows!

Another new thing in our home...we started potty-training. And quit after a few days. He is completely capable, but entirely unwilling...and therefore, just not ready. But here's our problem: he will NOT keep his stupid diaper on. We have tried duct tape, tight-snapped clothes, etc. He is a little Houdini...and gets it off no matter what we do! Not only does he take it off...he enjoys peeing all over everything. His favorite place to mark is the sheets in his crib! UGH! He'll go pee every time we put him on the potty. No big deal. He's even pooped on it a few times. But he just isn't motivated by anything to not go in his underwear. It's SO frustrating. And I'm SO over it. I don't want to potty-train him right now. But he's kinda making it necessary.

Anyway...that pretty much sums up what we've been up to for the past month. They LOVE playing outside...both in the water and the sandbox. Sand is my nemesis. It's everywhere and I can't stand it! :) But they love it...so it remains. :) Here are some photos from the past month...


(Yes...she eats it just like Isaac did!)